7 to 8
by Rocket Diver
Summary: "I hope to meet you again once we reach 7/8." Rin Kagamine feels hollow. Her best friend (and first love) of three years has suddenly passed away without an explanation. However, her feelings change when she finds a time travel device her late father had invented. Will she ever find out the truth?
1. Prologue

**This is a story I've been wanting to do for a long time ever since I heard kyaami's cover of "7/8" on Youtube. Go check it out!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Vocaloid and never will.**

* * *

March 19

After five years of pining and obsessing, she had finally made up her mind; she wasn't going to sit around and watch her classmates and movie characters confess to their love before her. She decided that she was going to confess to Len Kagamine, her best friend, classmate, and secret love.

Like all young teenage schoolgirls in love, she had tons of doubts on confessing.

 _What if I lose the friendship I have with him? He's like the only real friend I have in the school! If I confess and he rejects me, I have no one else! What am I doing with my life?_

 _Would he reject me though? I mean, he doesn't hate me and at least tolerates me._

 _Rin, you know that's a lie!_

 _If he's kept hanging out with you for five years, he likes you! It's just a matter if he likes me or **like** likes me!_

 _Then again, he hasn't told me he's gay ...yet?_

 _Would he reject me harshly like the school's playboy, Kaito Shion, unbelievably cold to his admirers' confessions like the temperature of his favorite food, ice cream?_

 _If he does reject me, would my confession be the subject of his next "film"?_

 _Why am I acting so girly? God, if I keep this up, I'll be sure to land a spot as one of Miku's future minons._

These questions went on and on, to the point of keeping her up at night. By a week, something miraculous happened: she stopped the doubts and the mini sobs at night that were muffled into her pillow. In a way, she developed a "no ifs, ands, or buts" attitude; she NEEDED to confess to him, or she wouldn't rest peacefully, whether at night time in her bed or whether in death wherever she laid.

That being said, that didn't mean Rin didn't care about she looked like to Len. She'd just die if he saw her as "one of the boys" despite her usual tomboyish personality or one of what Kaito deemed as one of the "uglier" girls in school.

Rin had fervently resolved to do whatever it took to prevent these possible outcomes.

So on the morning of the day of, she had woken up early to pretty herself up. After dressing up into her ironed school uniform, she had then combed her short blonde hair thoroughly for at least an hour and tied up her prettiest bow (which was of course bright orange) carefully and methodically. By then, her hair was free of tangles, which was once thought by her of as an impossibility.

That was when she saw the hands of a nearby analog clock turn seven o'clock sharp: a certain time in the morning where she'd already be outside, absorbing the cool breeze in the air while walking to school. She then hurriedly rushed to get her backpack ready with her packed lunch and schoolbooks, almost forgetting to be careful with her appearance, as anything could easily mess it up. Luckily, her appearance didn't change.

Almost haphazardly and clumsily, she barely managed to grab the carefully selected envelope off of the edge of the dining table just before it could drop to the floor. It was an embroidery envelope,the outside decorated with complex patterns around the borders and a cute little stick figure of a guy made out of bananas. The inside contained a paid ticket to the school's spring dance.

If it was a normal occasion, Rin would've scoffed at anyone who was claiming they were going to participate, list the 3+ perfect, memorized reasons why she thought the dance was a waste of time, and later rant all about her lectures to Len.

But this was no normal occasion; it was a once in a lifetime event that Rin intended to get right.

Envelope in her right hand and backpack settled on both of her shoulders, she dashed out of the front door by 7:03. By five minutes, she was still running, although she was slowing into a jog. By seven minutes, she had switched to skipping, as the unusually warm weather felt too good for her to rush to school.

While skipping, she seemed to have a spring in her step, albeit a few stumbles of anxiety. To help her relax, she focused rather on the crows chirping sweetly on the branches of cherry blossoms, which seemed anxious and ready to bloom anytime soon (like a prepubescent girl waiting for her first period), the warm yellow sun as the sky's yolk almost, and the clearest blue sky she'd seen in months that the sun seemed to be comfortably wrapped around in. These things around her temporarily made her forget about her mission until she arrived to school.

By the time she got to school, the events that were happening around her weren't so normal, as if a gloomy cloud had suddenly descended to the school and had disrupted everyone's mood. She noticed a female reporter interviewing Kaito Shion and taking notes intently on his responses. Walking closer, she could clearly hear Kaito expressing grief for his "dear old friend". Wait-Did she see a couple tears come out of his eyelids?

In a spontaneous response to his "grief", Rin heavily grimaced. She had never really learned to like Kaito, despite his friendship to Len (if you could even call it a friendship,as they seemed to only hang out in order for Kaito to act in Len's movies Rin couldn't or for Len to help Kaito cheat and get passable grades in art class). It was more like _mutualism_ between two members of the human species, one Rin wished never existed. To her, he was a big piece of geese shit on her school shoes.

It should have been easy for her to like him or even be somewhat close friends with him. He was one of the most athletic students in the grade, maybe even the whole school. He was the football superstar and was also especially decent at baseball and track. He was also one of the most popular, perhaps the most popular, kids in the grade and known around the school for having a generally easy going and fun personality and for being one of the most handsome boys in the school.

It made it all the more difficult for them to become friends.

First of all, her innate competitiveness and tomboy ways helped her to develop a shallow sport rivalry with him: although Rin easily beat him in track, their games in baseball and football often resulted in a draw. Rin was easily frustrated at these games, as her biggest strength, which were speed and stealthiness, couldn't overpower his surprising muscular strength when striking the baseball with the bat or kicking the ball with his strong legs.

Second, he was a plain jerk, whether to his teammates, to "girlfriends" and admirers, or to her Len.

Despite his reputation, Kaito was never known to be a good sport. In all three sports he specialized in, he was often prone to yelling harshly and even brutally beating up any teammate he thought made the team lose any game, even if the loss was his fault. After a few hours, Kaito would get in contact with the injured teammate and apologize, often successfully. Then, he would ask for the person to promise to not tell anyone that he was the one who had brought the injury, often successfully as well. This exchange often saved his reputation among the girls and the teacher in the school. Although many of the jocks in the school knew about this, many excused his behavior as many believed Kaito to be their role model in acting "traditionally masculine" (the words in quotes said by Len).

One way he was often considered "traditionally masculine" was scoring well with the ladies. He could flirt and talk well with even the most attractive of ladies, so much so that he was also considered a "playboy" around the grades. He especially liked dating a pretty girl, fucking her in his own car in the same night, and then dumping her the next day.

This type of masculine behavior was what had attracted Len's attention in the first place, which the latter had needed actors for his latest filming project. This filming project was very different from the all the other amateur films he produced as this film was focused on masculinity and teenage boys, a perfect film for Kaito to star in. Diedicated to the film, Len spent at least 3 weeks heavily conversing with Kaito and ignoring Rin. During that time, Len had gotten popular from Kaito's influence. However he could not escape from doing Kaito's homework, something Rin always noticed whenever she saw him.

"It's fine. He's always busy but he's a good guy. You just can't help but do whatever it takes to help him," Len had replied whenever he saw her worried.

In an instant, Rin suddenly jumped back from her musing, remembering the sudden change in the school's atmosphere. She walked even closer to Kaito and rapidly tapped Kaito's left shoulder with her right index finger until he looked her way, his pleasant facial features morphing into extreme annoyance.

"What? Can't you see I'm in an interview right now?" He asked-no **shouted** at Rin, annoyed to the point of bursting himself.

"It's fine, Shion-san. We'll get back to this interview very soon. Thank you for your time," soothed the reporter as she waved good-bye.

"Alright. Glad i could help, Tanaka-san," Katio turned to look at the reporter and answered politely but pleasantly as she left to talk to a fellow classmate.

Rin flinched from the sudden changes in his behavior. It was almost like sitting next to a girl dealing with all sorts of emotions during her PMS.

Then he turned back to her, seemingly spitting out venom as deadly as a horned viper as he asked her a question.

"What the hell do you want now, Rin?"

"What the fuck is going on with this school?" Rin retorted, spitting back her own kind of venom. "Why are there reporters scrambling around this sleepy town?"

"Haven't you seen the messages on social media? Especially on Instagram?" Kaito answered in disbelief.

"No...I don't have any social media and even if I did, I wouldn't have checked it first thing in the morning!"

Kaito hesitated in responding after her remark, which was rare for him to do, especially to Rin. In the end, he decided to quietly tell her the truth, quietly being in a grave and serious manner, which was even more rare.

"Someone in our school committed suicide." After this statement, Rin had tilted her head in confusion, who was surprisingly unintimidated by Kaito's changes of behaviors and a still somewhat vague statement.

"Who?"

Kaito told her, albeit after a few long seconds.

"Kagamine Len...our Len."

Rin had responded in anger, with a mixture of anger, doubt, and sadness brewing in her insides.

"You're fucking joking! I don't believe you! Where is he?"

She had pushed Kaito away, ignoring his tears and whatever he was spouting out, and ran inside of the school.

Intent on finding Len, she was deaf to the loud whispers in the school hallways. She was blind to her peers' eyes-which were filled with pity, concern, and criticism.

While running, Rin felt a hand on her right shoulder. She cocked her head to the right to see Hatsune Miku, the class president and the school's gossip guru. Normally she hated talking to the girl for her excessive peppiness , but Rin needed clear answers, and Miku was the one to go to whenever anyone needed info (confidential or not) on their classmates.

"Hey Rin! How are you!" Miku pleasantly tried to banter with Rin. Rin tried to sidestep her hatred with Miku to get to the point.

Rin didn't beat around the bush around Miku, and directly asked, "Are the rumors of Len being dead fucking true?"

Rin felt it was an eternity before getting a answer, even though she waited for only seconds. During those seconds, Miku stayed silent and tried to find a good way to break it to her. When there was none, she decided to be direct.

"Yes", Miku replied gravely. Angered, Rin walked to her homeroom, with Miku following her trail.

When she finally entered homeroom, she searched desperately for anything resembling his figure. Nothing. Nada. Nani mo nai.

Then she noticed the large crowd of students surrounding his desk, some of them not in her homeroom. She walked furiously towards his desk, the crowd parting like the Red Sea.

The edges of his desk were covered with flowers, primarily pink roses (which weren't even close to his actual favorite). A picture frame containing his school picture from last year's yearbook stood in the very middle of the desk. Small jar candles filled up the remaining space.

Rin pushed away Miku's condolences as she ran to the nearest bathroom, feeling a sudden urge to hide away in one of the stalls forever.

* * *

 **Constructive criticism is allowed, and flames will be used to light up the candles in my Day6 shrine.**


	2. Bathroom Breakdown

She spends the entire first period sitting on the first bathroom stall toilet, curled up like an earthworm in moist dirt. Phone on her left hand, she scrolls down with her right. Her face scrunches into what can be deciphered as shock and disbelief. At least ten articles have been written about his death.

"Straight A Student Decides to Commit Suicide"

"Why You Should Be Worried About This Student's Suicide"

"Parents Wake Up To See Their Son Hang Himself"

Even Neru Akita, the freshman class's technophile, had written her own thoughts about Len.

"Was my classmate, the happiest person second to the class president, actually suicidal? I think not."

Rin lets out a hollow laugh at Neru's headline.

 _I bet the comment section is a mess right now,_ the blonde thinks before abruptly closing her eyes shut for a few seconds and then opening them. She does this for exactly fourteen times until her eyes are completely dry.

Although in her mind, she knows the articles might give valuable information about the situation, her thumb hesitates to tap even one of the links. After hovering over the screen for a few minutes, her thumb presses the home button and taps on the button containing her text messages. Two contacts are boldfaced: Len's mother and...him.

She decides to read his mother's text messages first.

"Rin, there is no easy way to say this but Len has passed away.

He died by hanging himself.

You are still welcome in my household,

as he always spoke fondly of you.

The funeral is on Monday.

Will you give an eulogy?"

Rin stares at the phone screen, slightly trembling, for a minute before finally deciding to tap on his contact and read his messages.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this.

I can't let myself live anymore.

I hope you're happier now that I'm gone. "

Her heart feels like it's slowly cracking open, but she scrolls down anyway to see his very last message to her.

"I hope to meet you again once we reach 7/8."

It is then the storm that is Rin's emotions cannot be contained.

She flings her phone to the floor, which slams into the floor and slightly bounces before lying on the ground, the glass utterly smashed. The phone is abandoned as a teddy bear left in the closet.

She gets off the toilet seat to get her phone, only to just kneel on the floor.

Her right fist is repeatedly banging on the bathroom stall. The tears she'd been holding in rather well rapidly fall to the ground and Rin thinks to herself

 _whatdoesthismeanwhatdoeshemeanwhydontiknowdidireallyknowhimi-_

"Rin? Can I come in?"

Miku. Of course it had to be Miku.

"Go away," is all Rin can manage.

"Why?"

And before she can stop herself, Rin replies,"Because I hate you."

There is a long pause before Miku finally speaks.

"Come on Rin. Everyone is grieving for him."

"But do they understand how horrible, how terrible it is to one day think you know someone and then realize the next day you never know them!"

"Rin...I-"

"I knew him for **three** years, Miku. I lived in the same street as him, I walked to school with him, I've even visited his relatives with him!"

Rin pauses in order to control her breathing. Miku takes that time to speak.

"Rin, I know it's difficult, but there's nothing we can do. We just got to hope for the best and keep moving on."

Miku kneels down.

"If you're not going to get out of the stall now, you'll never get out," Miku says softly.

Miku must've struck a chord because it is then the blonde decides to get up and open the bathroom stall, albeit very slowly. Miku greets her with a faint smile.

"Let us go towards the worst English class ever," Miku jokes. Rin barely manages a smile.

Miku hooks her left arm with Rin's right arm, and as they exit the girls' bathroom, all Rin can think about are the memories of her walking to school with Len exactly how is she doing with Miku.

* * *

 **Please take some time out of your time to review this fanfic! Compliments, constructive criticism, complaints...you name it! I would really appreciate it if I got some feedback.**

 **And as always, flames will be used to light up my Day6 shrine.**


	3. Afternoon Blues

**I am SO sorry this came out so late. School has sucked for a long while and will continue to suck until the summertime.** **In fact, I only had enough time because weather is getting weirder and weirder.**

 **Despite that difficulty, I'm going to try to update at least once a month.**

 **So without further ado… chapter 3!**

 **And remember, I'm always helpful to whatever criticisms you all have for this composition.**

* * *

The rest of the school day feels like an entire eternity spent in hell for Rin.

You probably already know that Hell has been a big topic in her mind for hours. She's spent time wondering if Len is burning in the same lake of fire her father is probably burning all of his skin in or freezing up in the sky, where her former best friend, Luka, was.

 _Luka._

The name tasted too bitter for her to say, as if Rin didn't deserve to even say her name in private, even if it'd be softly whispered to herself while walking in the hallways or be said in her own bedroom. She tries to ignore her thoughts on her, but her attempt fails, and the subject of "Luka" takes part of one of the many topics jumbled in her mind.

What also stayed like sizzling hot glue in her mind were these questions.

Once Rin had started questioning herself about her life choices, her questions soon led to big and bigger tangents.

How did Miku convince her to get out of the bathroom stall?

 _I only got out there so that Miku would stop bothering me, right? Her incessant whining is so stressful that everyone around her is forced to obey before their ears bleed. I can simultaneously understand why she's class president and still wonder how my classmates voted for someone as dumb as she was._

How did she herself manage to finish most of the schoolwork given to her?

 _Since when did I actually try to do work in class? And when did I actually get good grades on most of them? What's wrong with me and my work ethic?_

How did she endure the regular pitying looks from her classmates and her teacher?

 _Since when did I care what they thought? I can barely stand any of those vapid people! The only people I'd try to impress is...Luka and ...Len._

And how in the world did she manage to lose two best friends in one lifetime?

 _If reincarnation was a thing, I probably would have disappointed more people in one lifetime than those who've had multiple._

Reflecting over these questions again and again, she barely registers the sound of the familiar school bell ringing at the end of the day, and is undoubtedly the last student to exit the classroom. She barely dodges an attempt by the teacher, a nice woman who goes by the name of Ms. Yomane, to comfort and soothe her and trails behind the large crowds of students that make up the packed hallways and stairways.

It takes a long while-perhaps seven minutes-before the crowds start to dissipate, even outside of the high school, where the buses are loading. Rin sighs in relief before starting her fifteen minute journey home.

While she's trudging home without him, she spots a crow on a budding plum blossom tree.

Instantly,as if her mind was a VHS player, it rewinds to a clear and very distinct memory and clicks play.

 _It was one of their recent weekly Friday movie nights at Len's house, during the glacial mess that is January. Surrounded by a sofa cushion-made pillow fort made in the basement, the two friends were covered by a fleece blanket, courtesy of Len's mother, with just a giant bowl of microwavable popcorn separating them. Scattered wrappers and pieces of M &M's and skittles covered some of the carpet they were sitting on._

 _They were watching (more like trying not to cringe) some generic fantasy movie. At that point in time, the generic main protagonist was attempting to confess to his shockingly beautiful but also generic love interest after school under the school's legendary cherry blossoms tree, as generic dramatic orchestral music played in the background._

 _Nevertheless, it was pure concentrated bliss for Rin, as she (obviously) felt blessed by Len's presence._

 _Suddenly the screen was still, with no sound coming out of the generic main protagonist's mouth._

 _Rin immediately turned to her left, where she saw that Len had used the tv remote to pause the movie._

 _Although unexpected, Rin wasn't too concerned as she had gotten used to Len's occasional impetuous behavior._

" _What is it, Len?" She asked, slightly tilting her head to the right._

" _I know this is a silly nit-pick here but I'm seriously tired of how lazy and uninspired directors know only one way to use crows in movies. Crows flying near the protagonist, which imply darkness and/or despair is such a tired cliche," Len responded as he sighed._

" _Well, maybe you will be the one to eradicate such tired clichés, you fricking art prodigy."_

 _Rin had jokingly punched him in the right arm after her reply._

" _Of course, a director needs his actors and actresses in order for work to truly make an impact," He had looked at Rin as if he was about to ask something very important._

" _No can do. You know I'm primarily a singer, secondarily an engineer," She had said back, gesticulating in mock disapproval._

 _"Who says you can't change careers? Plus, you are a good liar whenever we play BS."_

 _Rin shook her head. She may have been good, but Len himself was the best liar she had ever met, managing to win at least 85% of the countless games they've played. However, she wasn't going to let him have any satisfaction._

" _It's just because you just suck at the game period," answered Rin in response to his compliment._

" _Do not!"_

" _Do too!"_

 _Their banter went on for three minutes until Len grudgingly resumed the movie._

 _And despite the terrible movie, all was perfect in Len's house. Perhaps a bit too perfect in Rin's mind._

Then her mind fast forwards to the present and she continues on trudging back home, wishing to feel like a girl in a movie.

But she doesn't go directly home.

Instead, she finds herself at the front porch of Len's house. Rin knows it's a bad idea, visiting his house during the same day she found out about his death. She could possibly get a meltdown during the middle of a visit and cry and cry for hours.

Her right index finger finds itself pressing the familiar doorbell regardless.

 **Ding-Dong.**

Rin can hear-no, FEEL-Len's mother sprint towards the door, her footsteps as loud and heavy as a horse being hurried by its impatient rider and also his beloved master .

"RIN!"

Len's mother, known around the community as the part of the "World's Personable and Affable", along with the unofficial title as "World's Biggest Hugger" hugs her furiously. Rin hugs back, almost twice as furiously, and lets herself melts into her arms, like a chocolate bar left on the sidewalk a hot summer day, taking in the most solace and comfort she's had all day.

After perhaps five minutes, they finally separate, both slightly more confident about their futures without...him.

"Oh Rin! Thank you so much for coming back here it means a lot!" The older woman vocalizes with glee and pure, unfiltered happiness.

"You too, Mrs. Kagamine," Rin replies back, a tint of awkwardness found in her small voice.

"Rin, always call me Lily from now on."

Mrs. Kagamine lets her hand rest for a second on Rin's shoulder before being delicately put away.

Lily walks back to the front door and holds it open. She uses common hand gestures for Rin to enter the house. Unable to decline, Rin decides to take off her black leather shoes for school and comes inside.

Once Rin has entered the living room, Lily locks the front door at once, a harsh sound coming out. Rin flinches at Lily's habit. Despite her warm personality, Lily had always been the type of person to be wary of almost all unfamiliar people who take the time to wait at her doorstep, especially in today's world. It was a wonder how she managed to have been a part of Len's world.

For what seemed an hour rather than a second, Rin deeply observed the contents of his house, from the numerous picture frames containing a short summary of Len's childhood in the colorful living room with lots of splashes of banana yellow to the old sofa Rin and Len had regularly sat there to handle their B.S. card games, still unchanged and unmoved.

Then Lily starts to talk rapidly.

And when Lily Kagamine starts to talk rapidly, it's like letting loose a big avalanche; you can't ever stop the overload of information and emotions Lily is letting out. It's not like the woman was often a neurotic mess; rather, she took in tragedies better than most. It was out of character to be so stressed, though one couldn't blame her for a dead son.

"I've been at home all day trying to call everyone-relatives, distant relatives, family friends, and coworkers about it. Everyone's been taking the news really hard. And the worst part about it is that I...I..."

Mrs. Kagamine starts to breathe heavily while gesticulating with her hands wildly. Rin immediately comes over to Lily's right side in order to attempt comforting, even without a vague plan.

"Lily, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. Take some deep breaths," Rin says for encouragement. Surprisingly, Lily took it seriously and started to breathe in deeply.

"There you go. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out," Rin suggests, with the older woman calming down every five seconds.

"Do you want a glass of water?" Rin asks. Lily nods her head, her face still slightly red but not as furiously red as before

 _Wow. I guess observing Miku countlessly comfort many heart-broken girls has rubbed off,_ Rin can't help but think to herself.

Before Rin can walk to the kitchen, the front door slowly creaks before it opens completely. Lily flashes a sharp glance to the assumed stranger, before softening her look towards him. That "stranger" is known as Mr. Kagamine: husband to his dear wife Lily Matsuda Kagamine, father to his only son-now deceased-...Len Kagamine.

One of the pooh-bahs of several engineering firms around the district, he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from his job. Instead of opting for a larger home, he decided to use the money for his son, saving up enough for Len's college tuition, with the leftovers used to help Len fund his hobbies.

Despite remembering these facts about him, Rin makes a big effort not to look at him in total distaste. She still had not changed her childhood's perception of him: a snobbish, mean man Len had for a father who often ignored Rin whenever possible.

Especially he looked so much like Len, Mr. Kagamine being a model adult version of his son, his confidence and business intelligence being two traits that Len unfortunately wouldn't be able to model in the near future.

One major factor that played in a role in shaping her perception oh him was Len telling her all sorts of stories of him throughout the ages-whether it be the weird and bizarre parts to his personality, his seemingly constant disapproval of Len's art pursuits, every time he was being a snob and his rarely shown agreeable side to his personality.

Both Rin and Len had always watched the man in interest and deeply took in his presence whenever he spared enough time to linger around their company, almost like a butterfly fluttering around a random flower among millions of other beautiful flowers for a fleeting second.

He kisses his wife before briefly conversing with her quietly. They're so quiet that Rin can only hear snippets of their conversation.

She manages to hear the words "Rin", "visit", "Len's death", "calling", and "water" before they abruptly part from their discussion.

Mr. Kagamine is the one to clear his throat and speak first.

"Why don't we all sit down to talk?" He suggests.

"That's not a bad idea, Nero. Let's all sit," Lily agrees.

All of them sit on the sofa, waiting for someone to break the silence for the second time. Once again, it's Nero who breaks it.

"So I'm guessing today's been pretty rough for all of us," he comments.

"Yeah, it's been pretty weird without hanging out with Len," Rin remarks, which surprises herself.

 _Since when did I ever talk to Mr. Kagamine?_ Rin thought.

"I remember Len would get on my nerves just so he could make some art," he replies with a rueful smile.

"I wish I could see some of his work before the funeral," Rin instantly responds and sighs afterward.

"Why don't you go and visit his room?" Lily suggests.

Before Rin can interject, Mr. Kagamine whispers in Lily's ears. Her face scrunches up into worry before dissipating into something that can be distinguished as elated happiness.

"I have an even better idea," says Nero.

"Catch," he says right before lightly throwing a pair of silver keys for Rin to catch.

"That's the key to the attic. Let's hope you don't take too long in there," he remarks, a glint in his eyes.

Rin's eyes widen in simultaneous shock, sadness, and happiness. She stands in the same spot for a minute until something inside of her seems to snap, and she's running up the familiar stairs that lead up to a soon-to-be unlocked attic.

The key Len and she plotted to steal away for years now in her hands.


End file.
